With the trade, the Courage now have the fifth, ninth, 14th and 36th picks in the 2019 NWSL College Draft

BY Celia Balf December 17, 2018
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Jenkins played 13 games for the Courage this past season. (Photo credit: Howard C. Smith/isiphotos.com)

The North Carolina Courage have traded the rights to forward Darian Jenkins to Seattle Reign FC in exchange for Seattle’s first-round draft pick (ninth overall) in the 2019 NWSL College Draft, the clubs announced on Monday. Following the trade, the Reign signed Jenkins for the 2019 season.

The trade means that the Courage now have the fifth, ninth, 14th and 36th picks in the 2019 NWSL College Draft, and that the Reign no longer have any picks in the upcoming draft. The draft will be held on January 10 at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Last January, Seattle sent defender Merritt Mathias and a second-round draft pick to North Carolina in exchange for their first-round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft. This trade now returns the first-round pick to the Courage. Full 2019 NWSL College Draft order

After being selected in the first round in the 2017 NWSL College Draft out of UCLA, Jenkins didn’t make her professional debut until 2018 after spending her true rookie season rehabbing from a leg injury. In 2018, Jenkins appeared in 13 matches for the Courage and helped the Courage capture the inaugural Women’s International Champions Cup by scoring the game-winner over Paris Saint-Germain to send her team to the ICC final. Jenkins’ NWSL debut was against Portland Thorns FC on March 24 where the Courage went on to defeat the Thorns 1-0.